I de-Chrismasified the house yesterday. This year it just felt like the timing was right to clear out pre-New Year, so it all came down... everything except the tree with her lights. (Those remaining gifts you see tucked under there are for my aunt and uncle and their family, with whom we have not yet crossed paths... not sure what I'll do with them if they outlast the tree!)
Our near-bare evergreen now stands as a twinkling beacon awaiting the year to roll over, and I'm reminded of how much I love the look and simplicity of plain pine with white lights. Leaving this remnant of Christmas, now pared down from it's finery, isn't stale-feeling or oppressive (as holiday decorations sometimes feel to me when they're left lingering after the holiday has passed), it actually feels peaceful and somehow more important. Almost as though the ornaments were a distraction from it's real presence, and now it has been freed to stand stoically- mystically- the way it would have been revered a thousand years ago when these traditions we subscribe to were still young and sacred.
Also, it still smells amazingly green and piney.
I'm happily letting my mind linger on this focal point this morning; thinking of the place where it came from, the things that might have lived and sheltered in it, and the celebration that happened around it when it came into our home has helped restore some of that lost sacredness I always wish for this time of year.
For me it's a great way to end the year and prepare for the welcoming of the new one!
Wishing all something beautiful to linger on today. Happy Tuesday!
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